The Trametes Versicolor is a polypore mushroom. It is found the world over. It grows and develops different colours, something that apparently has a relation to its name. It is also for this same reason that it is sometimes called Turkey Tail.

Chinese and Japanese have used this mushroom for its medicinal properties for a long time. The cap of the mushroom is thick and feels like leather.

Sometimes it is rust-brown.

Sometimes it is darkish brown with blackish areas. Sometimes it has areas with green algae growing on it. The cap has a triangular, round shape.

Trametes Versicolor’s Medicinal Properties

Polysaccharide-K (Kresin, PSK, PSP) is a cancer drug derived from this mushroom. Its benefits are invaluable. It is used side by side with chemotherapy when treating cancer patients, and its other role is to downplay the negative impact of the drugs used in chemotherapy. The Health and Welfare Ministry of Japan approved the drug in the 1980s. The main cancers the drug has helped tackle are stomach cancer and colorectal cancer. It has also dealt with non-small cell lung carcinoma and small cell carcinoma which affects lungs.

To quote the MD Anderson, the top US hospital dealing with cancer, Polysaccharide-K is a "promising candidate for chemoprevention due to the multiple effects on the malignant process, limited side effects and safety of daily oral doses for extended periods of time."

Cancer is a group of diseases, all of which are associated with abnormal growth of the body cells. In medical terms, it is known as malignant neoplasm. In cancer, cells break grow and break down in an abnormal manner, and they form malignant tumours. The malignant cells affect the surrounding areas making the cells cancerous too. The cancer can also shoot from one part of the body directly to far off cells through the blood system. It can also spread through the lymphatic system. Sometimes, though, the body can develop non-cancerous tumours, and these do not affect any healthy cells at all. Such tumours are said to be benign. The known human cancers today are over 200.

It is not easy to state the cause of cancer in a single word or sentence. It is, however, easy to mention some triggers. Smoking, for instance, increases the risk of lung cancer. That is why many countries have legislated that a clear warning be put on the packaging of cigarette packets to warn consumers of the health risk.

Radiation can also trigger cancer. In 2011 when a power nuclear plant exploded during an earthquake in Japan, residents within a certain radius had to be evacuated. This was done so that the residents would not risk developing cancer from exposure to radiation. Many within the plant at the time of the explosion died from exposure to high levels of radiation.

The signs to look out for in identifying cancer depend on the affected part of the body and the extent it has established itself. A cancer that has spread does not give signs on one part only but on different parts of the body. Some areas show signs very fast while others take a long time. For example, cancer on any part of the brain will trigger symptoms very quickly irrespective of the size of the malignant tumour. But a tumour on the pancreas can take a long time to give signs. By the time signs are felt, possibly of pain, it will be a time that the tumour has grown so big that it presses on nearby organs or blood vessels.

Some common symptoms are often fever, fatigue and loss of weight. The symptoms should not, nevertheless, be taken to be conclusive determinants of cancer. This is because these are symptoms that other ailments may have too. To find out if cancer exists, a person needs to see a medical doctor for specialised tests. These tests may include blood tests, biopsy or even X-rays.

As for the treatment of cancer, the sooner it is diagnosed the easier and more effective it is to treat. The American Cancer Society recommends people to have regular cancer checks. In fact many international health organisations recommend annual check-ups. The approach to treat cancer is multi-prong. There is oral medication, nutritional, chemotherapy and radiation. The choice of combination depends on each case.

The Turkey Tail mushroom is said to help in the treatment of other diseases too. For example, it is said to treat Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is caused by HBV, the Hepatitis B Virus. It is an infectious disease that affects the liver. In its early stages, a victim suffers nausea and sheds dark urine. The body aches with mild fever, and the person begins to lose appetite. The skin also gets itchy. The real tell-tale sign, however, is jaundice.

Among other ailments that the Turkey Tail mushroom attempts to fight is malaria. Malaria is a fever prevalent in the tropics. It is transmitted by the mosquito.